A wide variety of elongated prostheses have been proposed for the repair or replacement of diseased or damaged ligaments and tendons. One particular example is the ligament or tendon prosthesis disclosed in copending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 481,612, filed Apr. 4, 1982, entitled "Triaxially-braided Fabric Prosthesis". This prosthesis comprises an elongated triaxially-braided multicomponent fabric element (e.g. a braided tube), and has the capacity to approximate the mechanical behavior of various ligaments and tendons (depending on the particular selection of component fibers) while exhibiting an excellent fatigue resistance. This U.S. application Ser. No. 481,612 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
One of the significant problems associated with the design of an artificial ligament or tendon prosthesis is the proper design of the means for fixation of the prosthesis to the patient's bone structure, typically with the prosthesis in a state of pretension. Such a fixation device should be securely held to the bone and should be capable of firmly gripping a portion of the prosthesis without damaging it. In particular, it is important that the prosthesis and fixation device not interact in use in such a way as to significantly detract from the inherent fatigue resistance of the active prosthesis structure itself, for example by excessive abrasive wear between the prosthesis and the fixation device.